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USDA will cut October direct payments by 8.5% as a result of sequestration. The Farm Service Agency (FSA) Administrator Juan Garcia said the reductions would “minimize disruption to farmers and ranchers who have already received and will soon be seeking disaster assistance through Supplemental Revenue Assistance Program (SURE) or Noninsured Disaster Assistance Program (NAP). It will allow producers who suffered disasters to be fully paid, and it will avoid having to require about 350,000 producers to refund 5.1% of the payments they have already received. It will also prevent the department from incurring a significant administrative burden that would be required to recoup these payments.”